Hollywood’s biggest night celebrated some of the industry’s finest as the 93rd Academy Awards went off without a hitch (well, almost), awarding some of the top talents in the business with the coveted golden Oscar statue. The awards show took a break from multiple traditions for this year’s ceremony, the most notable being the ceremony itself taking place inside of Union Station in Los Angeles, a break from the classic Dolby Theatre.
Kicking off the Steven Soderbergh-directed awards show was actor-turned-director Regina King, whose directorial debut film One Night in Miami was also up for multiple awards that night. King kicked off her speech noting the real-world issues at play outside of the realm of the Oscars ceremony.
“We are mourning the loss of so many, and I have to be honest, if things had gone differently this past week in Minneapolis, I might have traded in my heels for marching boots,” she began. “Now, I know that a lot of you people at home are going to reach for your remote when you feel like Hollywood is preaching to you, but as a mother of a Black son, I know the fear that so many live with and no amount of fame or fortune changes that.”
King then explained to attendees and those watching at home that this year’s ceremony would be treated like a movie set. Nominees would be allowed to remain maskless while on camera but would place their masks back on during each commercial break.
The first award of the night went to Emerald Fennell for Best Original Screenplay. Her film Promising Young Woman is, staggeringly, the first screenplay penned by a woman to win this award since Diablo Cody’s Juno in 2008.
Nomadland director Chloé Zhao is the first woman of color to win the Oscar for Best Director and only the second woman to win this award in the history of the Academy Awards. In her acceptance speech, Zhao paid tribute to her dad and her Chinese heritage with a short passage from the Three Character Classic (三字经), citing the translation as “at birth, people are innately good.” Zhao also became the second Asian woman, after Parasite‘s Kwak Sin-ae last year, to pick up an Academy Award for Best Picture, the most coveted award of the night.
In perhaps one of the most powerful acceptance speeches of the night, Judas and The Black Messiah actor Daniel Kaluuya paid tribute to his parents and Black Panther Party chairman Fred Hampton for his monumental Best Supporting Actor win and called out to the audience to unify in these trying times. “When they play divide and conquer, we say unite and ascend. There’s so much work to do, and that’s on everyone in this room.”
After three previous Black nominees in the category for Best Live-Action Short, Travon Free became the first Black winner in the category for his film Two Distant Strangers, which he shared with co-director, Martin Desmond Roe.
Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson celebrated their huge win for their work on Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom as the first Black winners for Makeup & Hairstyling to ever receive an Oscar. “I stand here, as Jamika and I break this glass ceiling, with so much excitement for the future,” beamed Neal. “Because I can picture Black trans women standing up here, and Asian sisters, and our Latina sisters, and indigenous women, and I know that one day it won’t be unusual or groundbreaking, it will just be normal.”
In one of the most charming acceptance speeches of the night, Korean screen legend and Minari actress Yuh-Jung Youn picked up a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. In her speech, Youn joked with Minari producer Brad Pitt about where he was for the duration of the film production, forgave everyone who ever butchered her name, and dedicated her Oscar to her first director, Kim Ki-young. Youn, along with her Minari co-star and fellow Oscar nominee Steven Yeun are the first actors born in Korea to earn Oscar recognition for their performances in Minari.
Outside of the winner’s circle, this year’s Oscars pushed for more diversity overall with 2020 Oscar-winner Bong Joon Ho presenting the Best Director category completely in Korean, with English translation by Sharon Choi, while Marlee Matlin presented the two documentary categories in American Sign Language (ASL). Also, in a new development, this year there was also an ASL interpreter made available in the Oscars’ press room.
While there is still a way to go for, as Mia Neal puts it, for the Oscars to present a diverse pool of winners where it “won’t be unusual or groundbreaking” this year’s nominees and winners proved that the Academy is working to make strides for the “new normal” and awarding deserving talent that are bringing never-before-heard voices to the forefront of audience’s screens worldwide.
New York Film Academy congratulates this year’s Oscar winners and nominees and looks forward to seeing what 2021 has in store for the industry’s most innovative and dedicated storytellers.
Here is the full list of 2021 Oscar Winners
Best Picture
- “The Father” (David Parfitt, Jean-Louis Livi and Philippe Carcassonne, producers)
- “Judas and the Black Messiah” (Shaka King, Charles D. King and Ryan Coogler, producers)
- “Mank” (Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth and Douglas Urbanski, producers)
- “Minari” (Christina Oh, producer)
- “Nomadland” (Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey and Chloé Zhao, producers) – WINNER
- “Promising Young Woman” (Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell and Josey McNamara, producers)
- “Sound of Metal” (Bert Hamelinck and Sacha Ben Harroche, producers)
- “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Marc Platt and Stuart Besser, producers)
Best Director
- Thomas Vinterberg (“Another Round”)
- David Fincher (“Mank”)
- Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”)
- Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”) – WINNER
- Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
- Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”)
- Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)
- Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”) – WINNER
- Gary Oldman (“Mank”)
- Steven Yeun (“Minari”)
Best Actress in a Leading Role
- Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)
- Andra Day (“The United States v. Billie Holiday”)
- Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”)
- Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”) – WINNER
- Carey Mulligan (“Promising Young Woman”)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
- Sacha Baron Cohen (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”)
- Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”) – WINNER
- Leslie Odom Jr. (“One Night in Miami”)
- Paul Raci (“Sound of Metal”)
- Lakeith Stanfield (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
- Maria Bakalova (‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”)
- Glenn Close (“Hillbilly Elegy”)
- Olivia Colman (“The Father”)
- Amanda Seyfried (“Mank”)
- Youn Yuh-jung (“Minari”) – WINNER
Best Animated Feature Film
- “Onward” (Pixar)
- “Over the Moon” (Netflix)
- “A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon” (Netflix)
- “Soul” (Pixar) – WINNER
- “Wolfwalkers” (Apple TV Plus/GKIDS)
Best Adapted Screenplay
- “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.” Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mazer, Jena Friedman, Lee Kern; Story by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Nina Pedrad
- “The Father,” Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller – WINNER
- “Nomadland,” Chloé Zhao
- “One Night in Miami,” Kemp Powers
- “The White Tiger,” Ramin Bahrani
Best Original Screenplay
- “Judas and the Black Messiah.” Screenplay by Will Berson, Shaka King; Story by Will Berson, Shaka King, Kenny Lucas, Keith Lucas
- “Minari,” Lee Isaac Chung
- “Promising Young Woman,” Emerald Fennell – WINNER
- “Sound of Metal.” Screenplay by Darius Marder, Abraham Marder; Story by Darius Marder, Derek Cianfrance
- “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Aaron Sorkin
Best Original Song
- “Fight for You,” (“Judas and the Black Messiah”). Music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emile II; Lyric by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas – WINNER
- “Hear My Voice,” (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”). Music by Daniel Pemberton; Lyric by Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite
- “Húsavík,” (“Eurovision Song Contest”). Music and Lyric by Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson
- “Io Si (Seen),” (“The Life Ahead”). Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Diane Warren and Laura Pausini
- “Speak Now,” (“One Night in Miami”). Music and Lyric by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Sam Ashworth
Best Original Score
- “Da 5 Bloods,” Terence Blanchard
- “Mank,” Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
- “Minari,” Emile Mosseri
- “News of the World,” James Newton Howard
- “Soul,” Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste – WINNER
Best Sound
- “Greyhound,” Warren Shaw, Michael Minkler, Beau Borders and David Wyman
- “Mank,” Ren Klyce, Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance and Drew Kunin
- “News of the World,” Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller and John Pritchett
- “Soul,” Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker
- “Sound of Metal,” Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés and Phillip Bladh – WINNER
Best Costume Design
- “Emma,” Alexandra Byrne
- “Mank,” Trish Summerville
- “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Ann Roth – WINNER
- “Mulan,” Bina Daigeler
- “Pinocchio,” Massimo Cantini Parrini
Best Animated Short Film
- “Burrow” (Disney Plus/Pixar)
- “Genius Loci” (Kazak Productions)
- “If Anything Happens I Love You” (Netflix) – WINNER
- “Opera” (Beasts and Natives Alike)
- “Yes-People” (CAOZ hf. Hólamói)
Best Live-Action Short Film
- “Feeling Through”
- “The Letter Room”
- “The Present”
- “Two Distant Strangers” – WINNER
- “White Eye”
Best Cinematography
- “Judas and the Black Messiah,” Sean Bobbitt
- “Mank,” Erik Messerschmidt – WINNER
- “News of the World,” Dariusz Wolski
- “Nomadland,” Joshua James Richards
- “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Phedon Papamichael
Best Documentary Feature
- “Collective,” Alexander Nanau and Bianca Oana
- “Crip Camp,” Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht and Sara Bolder
- “The Mole Agent,” Maite Alberdi and Marcela Santibáñez
- “My Octopus Teacher,” Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed and Craig Foster – WINNER
- “Time,” Garrett Bradley, Lauren Domino and Kellen Quinn
Best Documentary Short Subject
- “Colette,” Anthony Giacchino and Alice Doyard – WINNER
- “A Concerto Is a Conversation,” Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers
- “Do Not Split,” Anders Hammer and Charlotte Cook
- “Hunger Ward,” Skye Fitzgerald and Michael Scheuerman
- “A Love Song for Latasha,” Sophia Nahli Allison and Janice Duncan
Best Film Editing
- “The Father,” Yorgos Lamprinos
- “Nomadland,” Chloé Zhao
- “Promising Young Woman,” Frédéric Thoraval
- “Sound of Metal,” Mikkel E.G. Nielsen – WINNER
- “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Alan Baumgarten
Best International Feature Film
- “Another Round” (Denmark) – WINNER
- “Better Days” (Hong Kong)
- “Collective” (Romania)
- “The Man Who Sold His Skin” (Tunisia)
- “Quo Vadis, Aida?”(Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
- “Emma,” Marese Langan, Laura Allen, Claudia Stolze
- “Hillbilly Elegy,” Eryn Krueger Mekash, Patricia Dehaney, Matthew Mungle
- “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal, Jamika Wilson – WINNER
- “Mank,” Kimberley Spiteri, Gigi Williams, Colleen LaBaff
- “Pinocchio,” Mark Coulier, Dalia Colli, Francesco Pegoretti
Best Production Design
- “The Father.” Production Design: Peter Francis; Set Decoration: Cathy Featherstone
- “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Production Design: Mark Ricker; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara and Diana Stoughton
- “Mank.” Production Design: Donald Graham Burt; Set Decoration: Jan Pascale -WINNER
- “News of the World.” Production Design: David Crank; Set Decoration: Elizabeth Keenan
- “Tenet.” Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas
Best Visual Effects
- “Love and Monsters,” Matt Sloan, Genevieve Camilleri, Matt Everitt and Brian Cox
- “The Midnight Sky,” Matthew Kasmir, Christopher Lawrence, Max Solomon and David Watkins
- “Mulan,” Sean Faden, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury and Steve Ingram
- “The One and Only Ivan,” Nick Davis, Greg Fisher, Ben Jones and Santiago Colomo Martinez
- “Tenet,” Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley and Scott Fisher – WINNER
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
- Tyler Perry